2400 lbs. of Bird Seed Delivered to HBO Offices in NYC
This video is a combination of clips from the show and live video taken of the delivery of 2,400 lbs of bird seed to HBO headquarters in NYC. Keep an eye out for the birds!
Keep the Seed Flowing!
You can contact Mike’s directly to order seed and have it shipped yourself! No need to go through us now that the big shipment is there. Let’s keep the pressure on!!
Mike’s Feed Farm
37 Kentucky Ave – Paterson, NJ 07503 – (973) 732-0370
Store Hours: Mon – Wed & Fri 11 – 6 Thur. 11 – 7 Sat. 10 – 5 Sun. 11 – 4
Just tell them you’re with the “Save John From Cincinnati Campaign!”
From ChatAngel:The seeds were picked up and distributed between two organizations.
“For The Birds!” ~ an elementary school educational program that works with NYC Grades 2 through 5, offered by the Audubon Society of NY.
“Brooklyn Parrots” Wild Quaker Parrots of Argentine aka Monk Parrots (if visiting the NYC Area Steve Baldwin offers free tours!)
Bags were taken out of the boxes in order for more seed to fit inside their cars.
Thanks for making this a fabulous campaign!
Update: 17 April 2008
Early this morning, Mike’s Feed Farm in Paterson, New Jersey, along with our videographer, Ray, made the trip into New York City and delivered 60 boxes, each containing a 40 lb. bag of mixed bird seed, to the HBO offices at 6th Avenue and 42nd Street. That’s a total of 2400 pounds of seed! Well over the ton of seed we were shooting for! Total cost: $1,429.40.
We were told going into this that the building really isn’t set up for receiving such a large shipment of boxes. Boy were they right! In fact, there isn’t even an area for a truck to park. Our brave delivery people had to park in a bus stop and hope the police would not notice!!
The boxes were hand trucked down a flight of stairs and into a freight elevator. From there they were taken upstairs to the offices. Mr. Mesce [pronounced ma-CEE] of HBO public relations spoke with ChatAngel by phone to say that they had received the seed and that they were “building forts” with the boxes in order to make room to walk around the offices.
We made sure that our johnfromcincinnati Surfing Monad sticker is on each and every bag. So no matter where they end up, the people who use the seed will know it comes from us.
It was always our intention to make sure the seed does not go to waste. To that end, each box also has a list of NYC area aviaries and bird breeders where the seed can be donated. However, as luck would have it, ChatAngel is currently working with an organization that does bird education with grade school children throughout the city. If we can get seed to them then both the birds and the children of New York City will benefit.
Read ChatAngel’s wonderful blog account of her interactions with HBO.
Update: 31 March 2008
As stated before, because of changes in the stock market the cost of the bird seed (effected by droughts and floods) and the shipping costs (effected by oil prices) have greatly increased. ChatAngel and I have been working to get the most seed for the best price and am on the verge of closing a deal. We, being new to coordinating anything like this, have ran into a whole new set of issues around (1) the actual delivery of the seed to the HBO offices and (2) the timing the shipment so our videographer can film it. We are still clearing up the details… Bottom line, we will not be able to get the seed to HBO this week BUT it will be there next week one way or the other.
11 February 2008
B.O.S.S. Bombardment Proposal
It is felt that it is time for a wholly different approach toward our “bring back the show efforts”. ChatAngel was approached by many different folks that share the same sentiments (including several MySpace.com members).
The Problem
HBO did not seem to be affected by our mass mailings, letters, postcards, etc. Each a piece of paper can be easily disposed of, as can emails and phone messages.
The Proposal
ChatAngel’s plan involves sending an impressive amount of bulk Black Oil Sunflower Seeds (B.O.S.S.). Bird seed was chosen for several reasons. First, the seed is bulky and hard to ignore; second, the cost is reasonable give the size/weight of the seeds. Third, it is a direct reference to ‘John From Cincinnati’s’ character Zippy and the exotic birds housed within the Bill Jacks’ home.
If Zippy can comeback to life then so can JOHN.
In keeping with the environmental themes in JOHN, we do not want the seeds to go to waste. To this end, we will send alerts to animal organizations, including Audubon Societies, in the areas we send the seed and tell them it’s there and to contact HBO about picking it up.
In order to ensure a response we should send a minimum of TWO TONS of BOSS to the New York City and Santa Monica locations of the HBO Headquarters. I truly sense this bombardment spectacle WILL get the comeback ‘John From Cincinnati’ significantly deserves.